Not All Preservation Groups Work Against Hunting Inside The Outdoors

"Iwas up there watching all those Audubon jerks running around spitting on cars," a camouflage-shirted hunter in a Bucks County restaurant muttered to his friend behind the counter.

The scene took place in late morning following an anti-hunting protest at Tyler State Park near Newtown. The hunter, although he hadn't participated in the controversial deer hunt, had turned out to observe the activities of the crowd enticing media coverage via a noisy demonstration at the entrance to the state lands.

"Audubon jerks" was the term that stuck in my craw.

Having been an active member and president of the L.V. Audubon Society at one time along with others who cherish both birdwatching and hunting, I was taken back by his obvious ignorance of the National Audubon Society (NAS) and many of its local chapters, not to mention the fact that the Audubon society had nothing to do with the Tyler park anti-hunting demonstration.

True, Audubon chapters, like those of other conservation organizations, may be composed primarily of members sympathetic to anti-hunting causes. But the NAS, one of the country's leading conservation groups, declares no such philosophies. Nor do many of its hundreds of regional chapters although individual members, and some chapters, may take part in spreading anti-hunting propaganda..

Simply, the NAS is not anti-hunting although some of its positions may occasionally seem that way.

In fact, most of the country's oldest and most widely respected conservation organizations are not anti-hunting. Many do not promote hunting per se, as might the National Rifle Association, for example, but neither are they actively involved in putting an end to sport hunting or fighting hunting interests on the street or in courtrooms. In fact, they support the premise of hunting as a wildlife management tool and an economically sound investment in conservation.

Few conservationists, including some personal friends at the NAS, look upon the likes of Friends of Animals or The Humane Society of the U.S., as valid conservation organizations.

The average hunter, in turn, may unfairly judge a national organization based on one or two contacts with a local member of, say, the Sierra Club or Wilderness Society.

How do hunters know which of the plethora of outdoor groups are their friends -- and which their enemies?

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) based in Connecticut recently updated a booklet titled "What They Say About Hunting" to educate sportsmen, women and youngsters concerned about the future of their field sports.

The 24-page booklet provides a platform for 21 of the nation's key conservation and animal activist groups to give their positions on hunting. Their responses are published without editorial comment and, according to NSSF Executive Director Bob Delfay, "may clear up certain misapprehensions in relation to the true policies or attitudes (as written by) nationally regarded organizations."

Delfay also notes the "anomalies which are perhaps inevitable in such large groups where the written policy says one thing and either executive action or the activities of individual members would seem to suggest another."

While space doesn't permit a detailed analysis of each of the groups included in the interesting booklet, following are some of the more notable national organizations along with key statements (taken from more detailed descriptions) regarding their views on hunting.

- Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) -- "The IWLA believes hunting should be considered a valuable wildlife management tool, where it is compatible with other resource uses and purposes."

- National Rifle Association of America -- "The hunter's interest in pursuing his sport has been the principal factor in nurturing the conservation of our wildlife and other natural resources."

- The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) -- "The HSUS is strongly opposed to the hunting of any living creature for fun, trophy, or for sport, because of the trauma, suffering and death to the animal which results. The HSUS believes that a civilized society should not condone the killing of any sentient creature as sport."

- North American Wildlife Foundation -- "Hunting regulations based on scientific facts revealed through research assure the yearly survival of adequate breeding stocks of those populations hunted. The challenge for all citizens interested in wildlife and its proper management is to focus their collective attention on maintaining and restoring habitats required to ensure the survival and reproduction of wildlife populations."

- National Audubon Society (NAS) -- "The NAS, since its origin at the turn of the century, has never been opposed to the hunting of game species if that hunting is done ethically and in accordance with laws and regulations designed to prevent depletion of the wildlife resource."